


Words of Wisdom

by invisible_aliens



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: A bit of swearing, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Watford Seventh Year, the author's just making random stuff up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 03:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16360136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisible_aliens/pseuds/invisible_aliens
Summary: In Seventh Year, everyone is given a piece of advice by the magical Oracle Stone. Simon's not sure he's been given the right advice.





	Words of Wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> I was trying to write a original(ish) getting together story, and was inspired by that one time Lucy and The Mage talked about Oracles.

**SIMON**

One of the new traditions The Mage introduced is for every student to get a message from the Oracle Stone. Apparently Wadford used to have oracles, but since we don't anymore, The Mage came up with a ceremony to honour those of the past. The Oracle Stone is some ancient object The Mage recovered after years of painstaking research. (Baz says the ceremony is just The Mage showing off that he managed to find The Stone.)

Every year, a week or so before we leave for the holidays, the seventh years have a ceremony where they gather on the Great Lawn. It's our turn this year. We stand in a long line, and one by one we pick up the Oracle Stone and get one piece of advice. Sometimes, it's something vague. ('Take the path that at first seems the hardest.' Emily in the year above got this last year and complained about it endlessly. She still does.) Other times they're much more mundane ('next Thursday, you need to email your dad and make sure he remembers to turn the oven off so the house doesn't burn down.' That's what Premal got. He was... disappointed, to say the least.)

The line's slow. I'm standing with Penny and Agatha. Agatha won't stop complaining.

"Why do we have to hold the Oracle Stone?" she says. "I've got better things to do than stand in this line."

"The Oracle Stone's one of a kind!" says Penny. "You're right about this line, though. They should organise us better, maybe get us to go in groups."

Half an hour later, it's finally Penny's turn as we reach the start of the winding line. She stands on the platform, with the Oracle Stone on a tall wooden table in front of her, sitting in an ornate bowl. The Mage stands beside it, supervising the ongoings, and two of his Men are nearby. Just in case someone tries to steal it.

“Pick it up,” The Mage tells Penny.

The Stone's not very big, but Penny still uses both hands as she slowly lifts it out of the bowl. She takes in a sharp breath and closes her eyes as the Stone glows, a soft light reaching out from it. After a few seconds, it's over, and she puts the Stone down. She doesn't move at first, still staring at the Stone, but The Mage guides her off, impatient to keep going.

“Simon,” he says. He looks at me expectantly. Right. It's my turn.

I step onto the podium, my legs shaking a little. What is it going to tell me? I'm the Chosen One. I know The Mage is hoping it will tell me something useful, something that I can use in my fight against The Humdrum. (Or the old families.)

I hesitate a moment before picking it up, using two hands like Penny. Nothing happens for a moment. Just as I think it's not going to work, I feel it. A rush of pins and needles runs through my body and my vision goes dark. I can hear breathing. Or I can hear someone breathing in my head.

A deep and booming voice speaks directly into my mind.

“ _Tell Baz that you love him_.”

I come back to reality before I can even process what it's said, and The Mage is motioning for me to put The Stone back down and get off the stage. I stumble off, reeling. Penny grabs me by the arm and hisses in my ear as we wait for Agatha.

“What did it tell you?” she asks. It's not considered acceptable to ask someone what The Oracle Stone told them, but that's not stopping Penny. I shrug. She frowns at me.

“Well,” she says, “It told me I had to choose the green one. What do you think that means?” I shrug again. My mind isn’t working properly yet.

Agatha finishes and comes down to meet us. “Glad that's done,” she says.

“What did it tell you?” Penny asks her, barely containing her excitement as we walk across the Lawn towards the dining hall. It's almost afternoon tea time, and I don't want to miss the scones.

“It doesn't matter,” Agatha says sourly.

Penelope pouts. “You two are no fun.”

When I get back to my room that night, I'm still thinking about what The Stone said.

_Tell Baz that you love him._

Why would I tell him that? He'd just laugh at me. And besides, it's not even true. Does the idea make him so angry he breaks the Anathema? That _might_ be helpful. But it seems a round-a-bout way of getting him expelled.

Maybe it would make him feel sorry for me and decide not to fight me. That would be _really_ helpful.

Baz looks up from his laptop. “You've been staring at me since you came in. What's the matter?”

(Nope, there's no way he'd feel sorry for me. Let alone stop fighting me.)

“I…” I don't know what to say.

Maybe the Stone made a mistake and told the wrong person. Maybe there's some girl out there who's gotten mine by mistake, and she's been pining over Baz and his stupid perfect face and doesn't realise he loves her back. (Would she love him if she knew he was a vampire? I've never seen Baz talk to any of the girls much except Agatha, so she can't know him that well. Maybe I should tell her what he's really like.) (It's not Agatha, is it? Surely not.)

But the Oracle Stone doesn't make mistakes.

“Really, Snow? That's all you've got?”

I growl at him, and pull my own laptop out. I’ve got homework I should be doing, but I can’t get my mind off what The Stone told me.

_Tell Baz that you love him._

 

**AGATHA**

I’ve always thought The Oracle Stone was stupid. Penny's always been obsessed with the idea. (“We don't even know where it came from!” she says. “It would have taken a lot of power to create!”)

I don't want to take advice from some stupid old rock. But it's tradition, and I didn't really have a choice in at least hearing it. I'd complained to Penny about it, but she just said, “what harm can it do, at least hearing what it has to say? It doesn't mean you actually have to take its advice.”

There was a part of me that was determined to do the opposite of whatever it told me no matter what it said, but now it's told me something I was thinking of doing anyway, I don't have it in me.

“ _You need to break up with Simon.”_

I think part of the reason it annoys me is it doesn't always give you reasons for whatever it is you’re meant to do. But I know why I should do this. It just isn't working anymore. I don't love him. I'm not sure I ever did. And I'm not sure he loves me.

So the day after the ceremony, I track him down to talk to him, following him into the Wavering Wood. He likes to go walking there sometimes.

“Hey, Simon!” I call. He waits for me to catch up.

“Hello.” I can tell he doesn't really want me to be there.

“I think we need to talk,” I say.

He looks worried at that, and maybe rightly so.

“I don't think we're working anymore. As I couple, I mean. I think… I think we need to end it. Break up.”

“But…” he's lost for words.

“Even The Oracle Stone thinks so.”

“Fuck The Oracle Stone!” he says. “Is that the only reason you're doing this? Because of that fucking stone?”

I take a deep breath. “No.”

“Well in that case, I think I'll go for my walk without you,” he says, and stomps off into the trees without another word.

It's for the best. He'll see that, eventually.

 

**SIMON**

I don't know what to do anymore. It always felt good, knowing Agatha was still going to be there. It gave me a sense of the future, some stability.

But really, she's not wrong. Even if neither of us were willing to say anything until The Oracle Stone. (Which I'm really starting to hate. Making me lose my girlfriend and telling me to confess my love to someone else. Who I hate.)

(Shit, I'm getting shipped by an ancient sentient rock that can see the future.)

I hope Agatha isn't thinking of asking Baz out. I'm not sure I could take that. And I'm not sure they'd work, anyway.

Baz can tell I've been crying when I get back to our room.

“Something the matter?” he sneers.

“Agatha broke up with me. So you can go chase her now, as much as you'd like.” I collapse on my bed and bury my face into a pillow.

Baz is silent for a moment. “The perfect couple, finished.” I can't tell what he's thinking. But I bet he wants to go after Agatha.

“And for the record, I'm not going to chase after Agatha. I've got better things to do then take part in some inane relationship.”

Is this where the Oracle wants me to pour my heart out? (“We broke up because I'm actually in love with you, Baz. Even if you are a vampire. But you're so clever and amazing I just couldn't help it!”) (Baz is very clever.) (And I guess he's amazing, in a way. That doesn't mean I love him though.)

“You don't want to go after her? Then why have you been trying to get between us this whole time?”

“To annoy you, obviously.”

I look up at him, and he's got this weird look on his face. Almost like he's hopeful, or something. His eyes are focused right on me, and his lips are pressed together.

“Anyway,” he says, “I'm sure you'll get back together.”

“I don't think so,” I say. “The Oracle Stone told her to.”

He looks a bit taken aback by that. “So what now then? You and Bunce? Or is The Chosen One going to be forced to be single, even though he doesn't want to? Pathetic.” He smirks at me.

“Yeah, like you're doing any better.”

His face is an unreadable mask. (Is this when I'm meant to tell him my true feelings? “But we could help each other by becoming a couple!”) (Only if I actually loved him, obviously. Which I don't.)

“I might be single, but who says I'm not okay with it?”

And with that, he stalks into the bathroom to have a shower.

I'm sick of the way he hates me. The way we always fight. Even if I did love him, there's no way I could tell him. He’d just laugh. (“The Chosen One, falling in love with his nemesis? Pathetic!”)

I still don’t understand why the Oracle Stone told me tell Baz that I loved him.

Unless…

I do love him, and I just hadn’t noticed.

I can’t though, can I?

I do think about him a lot though. Where he is, and what he’s doing. And he does have a really nice face. And lips that would be _extremely_ satisfying to kiss…

Shit, I _have_ fallen in love with my nemesis.

I want to kiss him and cuddle him and just _be_ with him. I want him to be safe.

I sit on my bed for a moment, my hands gripping the blanket under my as I let this sink in.

_I love him._

The Oracle Stone knew. And it thought I should tell him.

 

**BAZ**

Snow looks nervous when I come out of the shower. Happier, though. Maybe he’s coming to terms with not being with Agatha. I’m not sure I can believe it, though. They were the perfect couple.

I’ve always been resigned to the fact that I didn’t have a chance with Simon. But now I know he’s not going to end up with Agatha, there’s a part of me that just can't help being hopeful. I shove it aside.

“I need to tell you something,” Snow says, looking up at me and swallowing.

“Go ahead. What is it?”

“I…” He looks down. “I don't love Agatha anymore. I'm in love with someone else.”

Why is he telling me this?

“It's you, Baz. I'm in love with you.”

He looks so scared I'm worried he's about to run out of the room. But if he's telling the truth, I can't let him do that. Because my stomach has started swirling with hope.

“You, in love with me? I'm not sure I can believe that,” I say, trying not to sound too hostile.

“I couldn't at first, either. But I do.” He looks back up at me. He's started to shake slightly, and he's frowning with worry. “You're kind of amazing, you know.”

“I'm really not. I'm just mean to you all the time. Why would you love someone who's hurt you that much?”

Before I let myself believe it, I have to know that he means it, that he's thought this through. (That it's not a trick.)

He grips the blankets tighter. “Because that's just what the two of us do, isn't it? Be cruel to each other. Hurt each other. Because we're meant to, being on different sides of this war. But maybe it doesn't to be like that.”

“And you decided to look past all this, and realised that you… That you _love_ me.” my stomach's churning now. I'm on the brink of pulling him into my arms.

“Yeah. It's crazy, isn't it?” He laughs nervously. I think he's about to cry.

“No,” I say, “not at all.” I sit down on the bed beside him, and turn to face him. I think I believe him now. (If he's lying, he's been secretly taking some hard-core acting classes recently.)

“I love you too, Simon,” I say. It makes me feel lighter, letting out such a deep and heavy secret. It’s suddenly easier to breathe.

He shakes his head. “Why would you love me? That's crazy.”

“Less crazy than you loving me. You're the Chosen One. You don't know what it's like, even being in a room with you. I miss you every Summer. I'm in love with you, and I have been for years.”

He still looks sceptical.

So I show him. I put my arm around his waist and I kiss him. I don't know what I'm doing, but I have to show him.

I kiss him, _and he kisses me back._

And for a moment, I can forget about everything. About my family and The Mage and the Humdrum and being a vampire.

Because Simon loves me, just as I have always loved him.

 


End file.
